In a moment that doubled as a political gut-punch and a credibility crisis, president Donald Trump was outflanked by members of his own party on Tuesday — watching three Republicans team up with Democrats to torpedo a procedural rule meant to smother criticism of his most controversial economic policy.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had been rolling out the same play for months: a parliamentary trick designed to block congressional challenges to Trump’s tariff juggernaut — a strategy that insulated the president’s trade policy from actual debate on the floor.
On Tuesday, that tactic blew up in spectacular fashion. Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Kevin Kiley (R-CA) and Don Bacon (R-NE) crossed the aisle to join Democrats in defeating the rule 217-214 — opening the door for lawmakers to introduce resolutions opposing Trump’s tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and other countries.
That matters because those tariffs have become a political poison pill. Voters and business leaders alike blame them for higher consumer prices, supply chain headaches, job losses and shrinking U.S. manufacturing — and even GOP lawmakers are now acknowledging they’re a liability.
Johnson and Trump loyalists had hoped the Supreme Court would swoop in and salvage the president’s cover by upholding the tariffs, sparing Republicans the headache of taking unpopular votes. Instead, the GOP revolt forced the issue anyway.
Trump didn’t help his own cause. Earlier this week, he boasted to a Fox Business host about slapping higher tariffs on Switzerland simply because he didn’t like how the country’s female leader spoke to him — a petty admission that even some Republicans and business groups criticized as self-indulgent and politically tone-deaf.
And while Trump can still veto any resolution aimed at reining in his tariffs, a revolt this blatant from within his own party doesn’t just threaten policy — it threatens political capital. Democrats are now poised to force votes this week on disapproval measures targeting tariffs on Canada and Mexico, with others lined up on products from Brazil and beyond.
